Data now available on over £1bn grants in support of COVID-19 response and recovery
[Figures in this blog were updated on 5th July 2021, following an update to the Government published data on 2nd July 2021]
On 24th June 2021, the UK Government published data on £490m worth of grants that it made in response to the COVID-19 crisis, in the 360Giving Data Standard.
This means that the data can be explored and analysed in our COVID-19 GrantsTracker, alongside other COVID-19 related grants. The Tracker pulls and visualises data published by funders about their grants made in response to the crisis, including over 34,000 grants worth over £634m already published by 127 other funders across the UK. The data released by the UK Government means that, in total, over £1bn worth of COVID-19 related grants can now be explored in our Tracker.
We have created the following interactive visual using Flourish, to support understanding of the data. Click on the different circles to zoom in, and use the selection on the top right to see the visual by number of recipients, or amount awarded GBP.
(Click to open the visual in a new tab.)
Government Data
The £490m released by the UK Government is part of the £750m Charities Support Package announced in April 2020. It does not include the grants distributed as part of the £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund package announced in July 2020.
This is the first data released by the UK Government about their COVID-19 response and recovery grants, and is only some of the grants awarded. It joins data already published about the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments COVID-19 response. The release of this data supports a more comprehensive picture of where Government grant money went and how it supported communities and causes across the UK, in relation to the pandemic. Since these grants are public money, it also helps to make the UK Government more accountable.
How much data have departments published?
| Government department | No of grants | Total £ | No of recipients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport |
15,427 |
£349,196,338 |
12,752 |
| Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government | 281 | £15,781,147 | 248 |
| Ministry of Justice | 185 | £30,400,000 | 117 |
| Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust | 101 | £5,925,463 | 101 |
| Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs | 67 | £15,812,780 | 67 |
| Home Office | 36 | £15,274,652 | 36 |
| Department of Health & Social Care | 32 | £23,805,708 | 32 |
| Department for Education | 16 | £19,342,753 | 16 |
| Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy | 2 | £15,000,000 | 2 |
| Total |
16,147 |
£490,538,891 |
13,083 |
Where does the data show the money went?
| Funding package | No of grants | Total £ |
| Coronavirus Community Support Fund Distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund. |
8,195 | £187,165,401 |
| Big Night In Distributed by BBC Children in Need, Comic Relief and National Emergencies Trust |
3,571 | £35,147,473 |
| Community Match Challenge Distributed by 21 funding partners: |
2,858 | £85,854,390 |
| Youth Fund Distributed by DCMS |
552 | £14,581,073 |
| Loneliness funds Distributed by Arts Council England, DCMS and Radio Funds. |
139 | £12,432,143 |
| Zoo funds Distributed by DEFRA |
112 | £14,015,908 |
| Domestic abuse and sexual violence services and victim support and victims of modern slavery Distributed by MHCLG, MoJ and Home Office |
359 | £38,227,799 |
| Homelessness Support Fund Distributed by MHCLG |
133 | £5,920,000 |
| Food for people in need Distributed by DEFRA |
67 | £15,812,780 |
| Advice services Distributed by MOJ and BEIS |
4 | £20,400,000 |
| Funding for vulnerable children Distributed by DoE and Home Office |
23 | £31,125,753 |
| Support for armed services communities Distributed by Armed Forces Covenant Trust |
101 | £5,925,463 |
| Support for health charities Distributed by Department of Health and Social Care |
32 | £23,805,708 |
| Faith umbrella bodies Distributed by MHCLG |
1 | £125,000 |
| Total | 16,147 | £490,538,891 |
Further breakdown of the funding distributed and the data file is published on the gov.uk website. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19 (Link will open in a new tab).
Due to match funding arrangements there is some overlap between government grants and grants data published by other funders. We will be exploring this overlap with the funders affected and will take this into account in future when analysing the COVID-19 data.
We look forward to the remaining Government COVID-19 grants data being published. This will provide us with a fuller picture of how grants were given in response to the pandemic, and enable analysis to understand funding to the sector.
You can explore the data via our COVID-19 Grants Tracker.
Understanding non-COVID-19 Government grants data
Further information about UK Government grants data published in the 360Giving Data Standard can be found on our blog. These blogs focus on non-COVID-19 related Government Grants and were written before the COVID-19 grants data was released: https://www.threesixtygiving.org/category/ideas-and-updates/government-data .